Free Humanity Lectures

A lecture by Anthony W. Robins at the Southeast Museum Sunday November 3 at 2:00PM

On February 1st, 1913, the brand-new Grand Central Terminal opened its doors to an admiring public. On February 1st, 2013, the beautifully restored Terminal - rescued from destruction by a seminal 1978 Supreme Court decision - celebrates its Centennial, accompanied by exhibitions, events, and a new book: Grand Central Terminal: 100 Years of a New York Landmark. The Terminal's creation combined engineering bravado (sinking two train yards below ground), technological wizardry (electrifying the trains to eliminate steam and enable their underground functioning), and real-estate savvy (replacing the original street-level train yard with 16 blocks of newly prime Midtown Manhattan real-estate, whose development paid for it all) with innovative planning (interior ramps and looping tracks) and Paris-inspired Beaux-Arts design. This illustrated lecture by Anthony W. Robins, author of the new book, brings the Terminal to life - its remarkable history, stunning architecture, and central role in creating midtown Manhattan.

The Rodgers and Hammerstein Era: Reinventing Musical Theater

A lecture by Marc Courtade at the Southeast Museum Saturday November 9 at 2:00PM

Beginning with 1943's "Oklahoma!", Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II changed the face of American musical theater. Has musical comedy evolved since, and is it still a measure of American society? One of theater's most successful creative teams, Rodgers and Hammerstein incorporated dance and music smoothly into the fabric of the plot, using them to propel the story to its conclusion. Their works also captured an idealized image of America and Americans. The Rodgers and Hammerstein model proved to be versatile, and allowed them to explore topics that were not the usual fare for the Broadway musical-going public. Using musical examples, we will explore these various Broadway musicals, and analyze their similarities and differences in styles, as well as how they reflect American culture.

These lectures are free and open to the public. They are made possible through Speakers in the Humanities, a program of the New York Council for the Humanities.  Speakers in the Humanities lectures are made possible with the support of the National Endowment for the Humanities.